have laid down their lives at the gibbet, the stake, or the block; but to expire leisurely among the most exquisite tortures, when they might come out of them even by a mental reservation, or an hypocrisy, which is not without the possibility of being followed by repentance, has something in it so far beyond the force and natural strength of mortals, that one cannot but think that there was some miraculous power to support the sufferer." -ADDISON'S Evidences, § vii. No. 4.

BEATRICE.

Does this conclusion

appear to you correct?

MR. B.

It is not an unnatural one for a Christian to make; but it would hardly be allowed by an antagonist: and therefore I shall only press the point of the sufferings of the primitive Christians as sufficiently attesting their sincerity.

BEATRICE.

But is the fact of their endurance of sufferings sufficiently attested by contemporary and Pagan authors?

MR. B.

The following quotations perhaps will satisfy you. Marcus Aurelius writes in his Meditations :

"How happy is that soul which is prepared to depart presently, or to be extinguished, or dispersed, or to remain along with it! But let this preparation arise from its own judgment, and not from mere obstinacy, like that of the

Christians, that you may die considerately, with a venerable composure, so as even to persuade others into a like disposition, and without noise and ostentation."

In the year 311, Galerius published the following edict:

:

"The emperor Cæsar Galerius Valerius Maximian, invincible, august high priest, to the people of the provinces. Among other things which we have ordered, with a view to the benefit and prosperity of the public, we did indeed formerly strive to correct all things according to the ancient laws and established constitution of the Romans; and, among other things, that the Christians, who had forsaken the religion of their ancestors, should return to a right mind: forasmuch as by some means such an obstinacy had seized them, and such was their folly, that they followed not the institutions of the ancients, which possibly some of their own ancestors had appointed; but, according to their own fancy, and just as they pleased, they made laws for themselves, to be observed and followed by them, and in many places they drew over multitudes of people to follow their customs. Wherefore, when after we had published our edict, that they should return to the institutions of the ancients, many have been exposed to danger, and many have been greatly afflicted, and have undergone various kinds of deaths; and forasmuch as great multitudes yet persist in their opinions, and we have perceived that they give not due worship and reverence to the immortal Gods, nor yet worship the God of the Christians; we, duly considering our accustomed mildness and humanity, with which we are wont to dispense pardon to all men, have thought proper readily to hold forth to them this indulgence; that they may at length be Christians, and that they may rebuild the houses in which they have been used to assemble, provided they do nothing contrary to good government. By another letter we shall make

known our pleasure to the judges, for the direction of their conduct; wherefore, agreeably to this our indulgence, they ought to pray to their God for our welfare, and for that of the public, and for their own, that on all sides the public may be preserved in peace and safety, and they may live securely in their own habitations."-LARDNER, c. xl.

Eusebius has also preserved the following official letter of Sabinus, at that time prefect of the prætorium, to the governors of the pro

vinces :

“The majesty of our most sacred lords the emperors, influenced by the pious and devout principle with which their minds are filled, have long since designed to bring all men to the right and true way of living; and that they who have embraced different usages from the Romans should be induced to give due reverence to the immortal Gods. But such is the obstinacy and perverseness of some men, that neither the justice of the imperial edicts, nor the imminent danger of punishment, could prevail upon them. Forasmuch, therefore, as by this means it has happened, that many have brought themselves into great dangers, our most sacred and powerful lords the emperors, agreeably to their innate piety and clemency, considering it to be far from their intention that upon this account many should be exposed to danger, have commanded us to write this letter to you, and to direct you, that if any of the Christians should be found practising the worship of their sect, you should not bring him into any danger, nor give him any trouble, nor appoint any punishment to him upon that account. Forasmuch as it has been manifestly found, by the experience of a long course of time, that they cannot by any means whatever be induced to depart from this obstinacy of disposition, you are therefore to write to the curators and other magistrates,

and to the governors of the villages of every city, that they are no longer to concern themselves in this affair."-LARDNER, c. xl.

BEATRICE,

These documents are certainly sufficient to establish the fact of the sufferings of the primitive Christians on behalf of their faith.

MR. B.

You will find some other documents equally interesting in Lardner; but I must now turn to the second class of authors who have given us information as to the state of Christianity, prior to the downfall of Paganism; viz. professed antagonists.

EDWARD,

Their accounts, if faithfully preserved, will hardly have less weight than those of the last class.

MR. B.

Unfortunately, we have only got these works in fragments, owing, partly, to the indiscreet zeal of the early Christians, and, partly, to the neglect into which they fell after the establishment of Christianity.

BEATRICE.

But this is a most serious loss, and reflects heavily upon those who destroyed them. Some of them possibly contained a full vindication of those eminent men among the Pagans who rejected Christianity.

MR. B

The loss is indeed great, as it is from their writings we draw some of the strongest arguments in favour of Christianity; but we have sufficient remains to shew of what nature were the arguments by which Paganism was defended, and there is every reason to believe that the statement of Chrysostom respecting them is correct, when he says:

"The books written against Christianity were so contemptible, that they had been all, in a manner, lost long ago. Many of them perished almost as soon as they appeared. But if they are still to be found any where, it is among the Christians."

EDWARD.

Is there reason to believe that any treatises written by very superior men have been wholly lost?

MR. B.

There is not: the greater part of the treatises which appear to have excited attention on account of the learning and ability displayed in them, viz. those of Celsus, Porphyry, and the emperor Julian, are preserved to us in the replies respectively made to them. Of others, as Hierocles and Fronto, we have only a few passages referred to by Tertullian, Lactantius, and other Christian advocates.

BEATRICE.

At what time did these authors write?